Preparations for Kejriwal's swearing-in to be decided today

New Delhi: Delhi Chief Secretary has called a meeting of senior officials on Tuesday to make preparations for the swearing-in ceremony of AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal after he conveyed his party's readiness to form a government in the national capital.

Sources in the North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) said it has been asked to keep the Ramlila Ground in Central Delhi ready for the oath-taking ceremony on December 26 as Kejriwal had conveyed to Lt Governor Najeeb Jung that he would like to have the event at the "historic venue" where anti-graft crusader Anna Hazare had held massive protests to demand passing of the Jan Lokpal Bill.

"The chief secretary has called a meeting on Tuesday morning to discuss the preparations for the swearing-in ceremony at Ramlila Maidan, where NDMC's Commissioner has also been asked to participate," a senior NDMC official said.

Officials said they will start the formal preparations of the event only after getting communication from the President. Sources also said that Kejriwal had told the Lt Governor that December 26 would be his preferred date for taking oath. After meeting with Kejriwal, Jung had sent a report to President detailing him about AAP's readiness to form a government with support from the Congress.

Kejriwal to be Delhi’s seventh CM

Arvind Kejriwal, who ousted Congress's three-time chief minister Sheila Dikshit in the recently held Assembly elections, will take over as the seventh Chief Minister of Delhi.

After he takes oath of office, Kejriwal will be the youngest Chief Minister of Delhi at 45 years of age. His predecessor Dikshit will take the crown of India's longest serving woman chief minister so far.

The Delhi State Legislative Assembly had come into being on March 7, 1952 with Congress leader Ch Braham Prakash heading the Council of Ministers. He had remained in the office till 1955. The 1952 Assembly consisted of 48 members. Prakash was succeeded by party colleague GN Singh who was the chief minister till 1956.

However, the Delhi state ceased to exist from 1956 to 1993 and became a Union Territory and governed under President's Rule. In 1993, when elections were again held, BJP took the reign with Madan Lal Khurana as the Chief Minister.

During the five-year term, Khurana held the office for three years till 1996 and succeeded by party colleagues Sahib Singh Verma (1996-1998) and Sushma Swaraj, who was in office for just over a month, when elections were held.

Between 1998 and 2013, Dikshit became Chief Minister thrice with Congress forming the government each time. In the Assembly elections held in December this year, the BJP emerged as the single largest party in Delhi with 31 seats but fell short of a majority, and declined to form a government.

Following this Lt Governor Najeeb Jung had invited AAP, the second largest party with 28 MLAs, for discussions on government formation.